Pre-order Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights, on sale 10/14/14:
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A POWERFUL ARGUMENT FOR ABORTION AS A MORAL RIGHT AND SOCIAL GOOD BY A NOTED FEMINIST AND LONGTIME COLUMNIST FOR THE NATIONForty years after the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, “abortion” is still a word that is said with outright hostility by many, despite the fact that one in three American women will have terminated at least one pregnancy by menopause. Even those who support a woman’s right to an abortion often qualify their support by saying abortion is a “bad thing,” an “agonizing decision,” making the medical procedure so remote and radioactive that it takes it out of the world of the everyday, turning an act that is normal and necessary into something shameful and secretive. Meanwhile, with each passing day, the rights upheld by the Supreme Court are being systematically eroded by state laws designed to end abortion outright.

In this urgent, controversial book, Katha Pollitt reframes abortion as a common part of a woman’s reproductive life, one that should be accepted as a moral right with positive social implications. In Pro, Pollitt takes on the personhood argument, reaffirms the priority of a woman’s life and health, and discusses why terminating a pregnancy can be a force for good for women, families, and society. It is time, Pollitt argues, that we reclaim the lives and the rights of women and mothers.

Read an excerpt now.

See Katha on tour:

On NPR for Women's History Month

NPR's "Tell Me More" digs into inspiring, bold and sometimes disturbing stories of notable women—from Cleopatra to Coco Channel. Host Michel Martin talks with two essayists about why it's important to tell women's stories, and how that storytelling has evolved.

Listen to the podcast.

Wislawa Szymborska, 1923–2012

Remembrance: Wislawa Szymborska, 1923-2012

Occupy the Holidays!

Mulled wine, fruitcake, carols and latkes are all very well. (Wait, latkes? I'll take some of those!) But the best holiday tradition is helping others through our annual end-of-year donations list. Whip out your checkbook and read on.